Azure Dynamics gets first hybrid truck dealer
Oak Park-based hybrid truck developer Azure Dynamics Corp. Monday announced it had signed its first dealer, Palmetto Truck Center, to a sales and service agreement. The agreement allows Miami, Fla.-based Palmetto to serve growing market demand for Azure's new fuel efficient, low maintenance and environmentally friendly Balance Hybrid Electric E450 commercial vehicle. The Balance Hybrid Electric is integrated on Ford Motor Co.'s E450 Cutaway and Strip Chassis drive system managing the conventional 5.4 litre Triton gasoline engine and the 5-speed automatic TorqShift transmission. The hybrid powertrain features electric-launch assist, engine-off at idle and regenerative braking -- which improves the vehicle's fuel economy by up to 40 percent, reduces maintenance cost by up to 30 percent and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions. More.
New software from CrimeCog
Ann Arbor-based CrimeCog Technologies Inc. announced a new, advanced law enforcement records management system and a new jail booking and management system software suite delivered over the Web on a software-as-a-service model. CrimeCog's SaaS offering will enable law enforcement agencies in medium-to-small sized communities to immediately realize the benefits of CrimeCog's comprehensive, feature-rich and fully integrated RMS and JMS applications while avoiding expensive hardware and software upgrades. More.
Troy tech firm adds IT recruiting, placement
On the heels of announcing a new record for traffic to the Michigan tourism Web site, michigan.org, the record is broken again. Two days after Monday's record volume of 57,432 user sessions, Wednesday's traffic to the site was up 24 percent over Monday's levels. Wednesday, June 25 set a new record for volume on the site with 69,573 visits and 39,777 click-throughs to Michigan tourism industry Web sites, the biggest single day in the site's history. More.
21st Century Investment Fund to help advanced composites firm
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO James C. Epolito Monday announced Michigan Strategic Fund board approval of a co-investment of up to $2.5 million through the Michigan 21st Century Investment Fund to Auburn Hills-based Microposite Inc. Founded in 2006, Microposite is an early-stage company that designs, develops and manufacturers advanced composite materials for applications in the construction industry. More.
Call center satisfaction rises a bit, but not in cable TV
Overall satisfaction with commercial call centers rose three percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the second annual Contact Center Satisfaction Index from Ann Arbor-based CFI Group, with the score rising from 70 to 72 on the index's 100-point scale. However, the improvement wasn't across the board at call centers of all industries. Satisfaction with bank call centers plunged from 77 to 71, and cable or satellite TV call center satisfaction fell from 68 to 66, now the lowest score of any industry. Retail call center satisfaction fell from 80 to 76. More.
Wayne State University's police force has moved into a new, high-tech home.
The two-story, 1924-vintage, Albert Kahn building at 6050 Cass Ave. was gutted and rebuilt in a two-year, $5.7 million project.
Now, it combines historic marble, gorgeous woodwork, and a dispatch center resembling the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.
At 33,000 square feet, the building triples the space of the former Wayne State police headquarters, a former insurance agency on Forrest Street that the university wanted for other purposes.
The first floor features a secure lobby, a large records area, a high-tech dispatch center with direct data links to Detroit, state and federal authorities and the Internet, a lockup for short-term holding of criminal suspects, and a large garage.
Upstairs are offices, training rooms, locker rooms, an evidence processing laboratory, weapons storage and engineering and physical fitness rooms.
It's a major upgrade in working conditions for Wayne State's 54 sworn officers, who also are sworn as Detroit city police officers, and the department's civilian employees.
The entire building has both multiple redundant power sources and redundant data connections.
Lt. Leonard Corsetti, the officer in charge of computer operations, and Sgt. George M. Cool, records and communicaitons supervisor, said the new headquarters is part of a continuing upgrade in Wayne State's public safety efforts. Included is training all the university's officers in rapid, SWAT-team-style response to threats to campus safety.
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Carhartt gets new Web site with a twist; Dearborn home site goes MySpace
Dearborn-based Carhartt, a manufacturer of premium workwear, Monday launched a new Web site at www.carhartt.com. And the company is also asking consumers to help knock down its old site. Consumers can log on to the site to use interactive demolition tools including a jack hammer, wrecking ball and dynamite sticks to accomplish the job. More. Also, the Welcome Home Dearborn marketing campaign said Monday it had launched a page on MySpace in an attempt to draw a younger audience. More.
Charter bumps cable modem top speed to 16 Mbps
Charter Communications Inc., Michigan's second largest cable TV services provider, Monday announced that it is launching its Charter High-Speed Internet Max service, with download speeds of up to 16 megabits per second. Charter High-Speed Internet Max is available throughout most of Charter’s Michigan service area. More.
Advanced Photonix loss grows
Ann Arbor-based Advanced Photonix Inc. Monday reported revenue of $23.2 million for its fiscal year, which ended March 31, down 1.6 percent from $23.6 million a year earlier. The company's loss for the year was $9.6 million or 44 cents a share, vs. a loss of $4.6 million or 24 cents a share a year earlier. The company said the decline in revenue was primarily the result of delays in telecommunication and defense product shipments from the latter half of fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2009. More.
THE WORLD IN TECH
EBay told to pay $61 million to fashion brand for fakes
A French court ordered eBay Inc. to pay more than $61 million to a high-end fashion company Monday because counterfeit goods were sold on the auction site. The fashion company, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, is home to such prestigious brands as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci and Marc Jacobs, and had complained that it was hurt by the sale of knockoff bags and clothes on eBay. Pierre Godet, an adviser to LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, said the Paris court's decision was "an answer to a particularly serious question, on whether the Internet is a free-for-all for the most hateful, parasitic practices." More.
Yahoo takes its defense against Icahn to investors
Yahoo Inc. began pressing a case to major shareholders Monday that its board and management deserve a chance to prove they made the right move when they rejected a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft Corp. The missed opportunity to sell to Microsoft infuriated many Yahoo shareholders, prompting activist investor Carl Icahn to agitate for replacing Yahoo's nine directors and reviving negotiations with Microsoft. If he gains control of the board, Icahn intends to fire Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as chief executive. In response, Yahoo has assembled a 32-page presentation for shareholders to elaborate on the points it has been emphasizing since Microsoft withdrew its bid May 3. Investors will decide the dustup in a vote scheduled Aug. 1 at Yahoo's annual meeting. More.
Swedes bombard lawmakers with e-mails protesting eavesdropping law
Swedes have bombarded lawmakers with more than 1 million e-mails protesting the country's new eavesdropping law, adding to the growing public outcry over the measure, an official said Monday. The contentious bill allows officials to eavesdrop on all cross-border e-mail and telephone traffic. The government plans to implement it in January. The bill was passed June 18 in a 142-138 vote despite nationwide protests that are still continuing. Critics say the law will encroach on privacy and jeopardize civil liberties. Supporters claim it is needed to fight international crime and terrorism. More.
Microsoft stops selling new editions of XP
Microsoft Corp. is scheduled to stop selling its Windows XP operating system to retailers and major computer makers Monday, despite protests from a slice of PC users who don't want to be forced into using XP's successor, Vista. Once computers loaded with XP have been cleared from the inventory of PC makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., consumers who can't live without the old operating system on their new machine will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally "downgrade" to XP. Microsoft will still allow smaller mom-and-pop PC builder shops to buy XP for resale through the end of January. A version of XP will also remain available for ultra-low-cost PCs such as the Asus Eee PC. More.
Stocks: Yahoo leads drop in technology shares
Technology stocks lost ground by Monday's closing bell, led by declines at Yahoo Inc. following the company's latest filing in its ongoing proxy battle with billionaire Carl Icahn. By the time the market closed, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) had fallen 22.65 points or 1 percent to 2,292.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) eked out a 3.5 point rise, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,350.01, wrapping up the worst June for the index since 1930 -- but narrowly averting the technical definition of a bear market since its 2007 peak. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) fell a scant 0.93 points or 0.3 percent to 368.16 and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 5.15 points or 0.9 percent to 554.48. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index ($DRG) rose 3.66 points or 1.3 percent to 290.79, while the Amex Biotech Index (BTK) rose 2.87 points or 0.4 percent to 737.81. The S&P 500 ($SPX) managed a gain of 1.62 points or 0.1 percent, to 1,280 even.
Matt's Favorites
A fair amount of local leftovers: a Wayne State professor gets a federal cancer research grant; a partnership involving Kentwood's X-Rite moves into Linux-powered printing technology; a Pfizer animal antibiotic largely developed in Kalamazoo gets the FDA's OK; and Detroit's Caraco gets the FDA's OK for a generic antidepressant. Elsewhere: Here's the lowdown on the lobbying of the IT Industry Council, IDT and InterActiveCorp; Verizon Wireless adds subscriptions to RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service; a new law in Washington state bans cell phone use behind the wheel; California offers a tax break to keep Tesla Motors in the state; a new device that lets you steer with your tongue; the feds clear the purchase of EDS by HP; Bhutan bans laptops in the national assembly; check out this industry wish list for future browsers; Apple issues a bunch of patches; and it seems Sprint may be making a comeback.
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Wayne State University's police force has moved into a new, high-tech home.
